Midlife

He's the Bee's Knees as well. He's the uncle in the family that everyone warns you about: somebody a lot like you and me...

It already is at the other end of the black wire.

Nope, it is a blind circuit and the end doesn't attach to anything. So why is it there? It's attached at the dash cluster plug to the violet resistor wire. That wire is a single strand 28 to 32 gauge wire, too small for the pin to crimp onto the single strand. So...simply add another 18 gauge wire to the resistor wire for mechanical strength at the crimp and Bob's your Uncle! Simply tuck that black wire out of the way and be happy.

Here's your chance to overcome your regrets: buy it now, RR! That's a fair price, although you could probably haggle him down a couple of hundred.

I'm not sure that it will be a problem for his gauges. Converting to the 69 lamp circuit means replacing one of the pins on the dash cluster connector, but that then will really screw up the circuit card. That RUN-only line handles all of the indicator lamps, so there's some serious problems there. I could easily handle it with the hard-wired dash cluster harness, but that's expensive. By the way, Ford went back to the more standard configuration in the 1973 Mustang. suggesting that there were some issues found earlier.

Working with Rich Ackerman, he discovered that where-ever he probed for RUN-only power on his tach car, it had continuity with ACC power. I believe we have traced it to the alternator indicator lamp. This lamp compares RUN-only power with a 15 ohm resisted ACC line that connects to the alternator/voltage regulator line in the engine compartment. When the engine is not running and the key in RUN position, the lamp will be lit and voltage transferred across the bulb. When the engine is running, both sides of the lamp see 12V and the lamp goes out. Continuity will still be there, albeit across a light bulb (typically about an ohm or so). This was a new wiring system for Mustangs, beginning this year. Past years, the comparison was from the same line from the alternator/voltage regulator and tied to ACC (15 ohms) but compared to ACC itself. This prevents feedback from the ACC system into the RUN-only lines. Other seemingly crappy electrical designs for the 70 include the no-ground system for the side marker lamps, among other things. This problem only appears with alternator indicator lamps and NOT in ammeter-provisioned Mustangs. Rich was searching for RUN-only power for some aftermarket gauges and was concerned that they would be operational with this feedback problem. I don't think that will be the case, as the amount of current allowed will be choked off by the 15 ohm resistor. Anyway, an interesting situation, one I had not considered before.

Bah! A Bronco deserves a stick shift and high/low gears as well. And when do we get to see it painted in the so-called "putrid" color the customer wants?

Uhhh...where's the third pedal?

How many rolls of TP did it take?

The concours crowd might be interested: www.concoursmustang.com West Coast Cougars might be interested in it as a core as well.

Uhhh...we never said you weren't crazy. How many fingers do I presently hold up? When was the last time you kicked the dog? Do you always moon Chebbys?

Yes, 6.4 milliamps. That's an excellent number and shouldn't give you problems. I tend to agree with Mr. Mach1Rider.

There's a violet resistor wire pinned with the black/green thick wire at the ignition plug: that is a 10 ohm resistor wire for the dash cluster constant voltage regulator. On the back of the fuse box is a square green plug with female pins: that is what I meant by the green fuse box backing. If you measure resistance from pin 7 to the right pin on the green fuse box, you should see 15 ohms. That pin is on the row below the big pin, and on the far side away from the big pin. Your harness is wired a bit differently that what I typically see, but that may be due to a different vendor who manufactured it. I know of at least 3 variants, mostly due to AC vs. non-AC heater box connector plug placement, powering door ajar relays, etc.

Almost right. Pin 7 is just the green/red wire. The resistor wire goes from ignition switch to the green fuse box backing, where it is tied in with Pin 7. The resistor wire starts at the ignition switch at the ACC pin or at the OEM splice above the ignition switch connector. However, what you have done or what you have is electrically the same.

I take Beano to remove the fire hazard.